Multiple methods for laying railroad tracks have been provided in the prior art. One favorable method of laying railroad tracks is laying a continuous welded rail, in which case individual sections of rail are laid on a prepared surface by a rail laying device. Each section of rail is approximately one-quarter mile long, and the rail laying device is operable to dispense and initially align the one-quarter mile long rails. A weld is made to join the two adjoining rails at the junction separating the two adjoining rails. Following the rail laying device is an anchoring device for anchoring the rail to the prepared bed at the appropriate location. Once the rails are anchored, a railway vehicle, such as a train, may then travel on the railroad track. In a similar manner, such a process may be applied to replace rails in existing rail lines that have been worn as a result of railroad traffic.
A common problem occurring during the laying of railroad tracks occurs when the rails deform or bend due to the thermal conditions surrounding the rails. Common deformities include kinks in the rail and pull-aparts in the anchored rail. Such deformities can cause one end of a rail to pull away from the adjacent end of the connecting rail, thereby creating a gap between the rails. A kink in one of the rails typically results in a distortion of the rail and non-parallel arrangement of the rails. The effect of either of these deformities can vary from being an annoyance caused by a rough ride of the railcar to being a hazardous situation caused by the derailing of the railcar vehicle traveling on the railroad tracks.
In response to the problems of distorted tracks, several attempts have been made to control and maintain the elongation of the rails, and thus prevent kinks and pull-aparts. One method of controlling elongation of the rails to be anchored is to preheat the rails to be anchored to a determined temperature and maintain that temperature while each rail is being anchored. Consequently, several methods have been developed to preheat the rails, with none of these methods attaining a manner in which to heat that is efficient and cost effective.
As a result of the experimentation provided regarding heating of railroad tracks, it has been determined that a continuous amount of thermal energy applied to a railroad track will allow the track to remain elongated for either installation or repair. However, the prior art has failed to produce reliable and predictable products for maintaining a temperature throughout the cross-section of the rail and uniformly about a given length. Commonly, the temperatures of rails of railroad track will vary according to the atmospheric conditions, and the previous methods do not maintain the desired temperature for maintaining the length of the rails. One such method includes implementing a conventional propane heater to provide a flame that contacts one spot of the rail. However, such a method does not provide for even distribution of the heat applied, and therefore the rails are remain subject to deformation due to undesirable temperatures.
Another method that has been provided to maintain the elongation of the railroad track is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,504 issued to Abele. In this design, a self-propelled rail heater car is described that includes movable induction heating coils. This design describes the use of induction coils to generate a current in the rails of the railroad tracks so as to heat the rails by induction. While such a process operates to control the thermal properties of the railroad track, it is not cost-efficient for most consumers to purchase and use.
The prior art therefore fails to provide a method for maintaining the railroad tracks at a certain temperature through the entire cross-sectional area of the railroad tracks at an efficient cost for consumers. Therefore, what is needed, and not found in the prior art, is an economical heating module and assembly for heating railroad tracks that provides efficient and even heating of the railroad tracks to prevent curvature or deformity of the track due to undesirable atmospheric conditions.